EU And US To Sign Economic Integration Plan

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

01 May 2007

The annual EU-US Summit at the White House on Monday marked the adoption of a new framework for promoting transatlantic economic integration.

The Summit also dealt with a full agenda of other issues such as Kosovo, working together to support the Middle East peace process, tackling climate change, and boosting energy security through the search for sustainable new resources and credible energy efficiency measures.

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, Vice-Presidents Günter Verheugen (Enterprise and Industry) and Jacques Barrot (Transport) and Commissioners Benita Ferrero-Waldner (External Relations) and Peter Mandelson (Trade) represented the Commission at the Summit, which was hosted by President Bush. German Chancellor Angela Merkel represented the EU Presidency, assisted by the Secretary-General/High Representative Javier Solana.

Before departing for the United States, President Barroso commented:

“Our political relationship with the US is as close as ever, based on deep ties of kinship. With the international role of the US economy as powerful as ever and with the EU now firmly back on the growth and jobs path, this is the right time to deepen our economic partnership and to further strengthen the transatlantic economy. This agreement will allow us to demolish existing, unnecessary barriers posed by divergent regulations and nip new ones in the bud. With the necessary political commitment and follow up on all sides, the new framework will deliver lower costs for businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic."

Regulatory cooperation under the new transatlantic economic framework will concentrate first on key sectors such as automotive industries, medical services and pharmaceuticals and on cross-cutting areas like investment, trade security and intellectual property right enforcement.

President Barroso called for the mutual recognition of accounting standards by 2009 and for swift progress on mutual recognition of the rules governing securities markets.

Joint EU-US efforts to unleash the full potential of the transatlantic economy will be accompanied by a concerted effort to bring to fruition the Doha trade round.

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